This paper is premised on the assumption that approaches to tackle rural de­velopment are still relatively new in. Sierra Leone and sufficient time has not clasped for proper evaluation of the more recent efforts. The paper provides learning experiences about the nature, complexity and scale of our own problems that could be of relevance to rural development practitioners in other developing countries with similar conditions like those of Sierra Leone. The main focus of the paper is an analysis of the various development programmes that have attempted to tackle the innumerable rural problems in the country. In the re­maining parts of the paper, the author attempts to examine the successes, and outline the issues and implications for better execution of future rural development programmes